Onamission Syndicate’s three-year-old gelding Saint Etienne has been retired from racing after three most disappointing runs – in line with the stable’s policy not to waste time and effort on horses that are not good enough to win.

Saint Etienne is a well-built, strong horse, good to look at – with a good pedigree and a lot going for him, but Mathew de Kock decided after his latest run at the Vaal on Thursday to call it a day.

“I think it’s best to give Saint Etienne a happy retirement rather than see him flogged around the track. He just didn’t enjoy his racing,” said Mat.

Saint Etienne

That’s the way racing works. You can get a star one day, a plodder the next. The key is in trying again.

There were a number of new owners involved in this syndicate, along with some from the successful Puget Sound and Elbi partnerships and Mat said: “I am sorry it didn’t work out for them, but most of the new guys invested only about R4,000. They’ve all been nice people to meet, they’ve been very supportive and they will be getting a proportion of their money back. That’s the beauty of a syndicate like this where costs as shared by many. We’ll find the guys something better soon!”

The new members had fun, despite the three poor runs and all of them agreed with Mat’s decision, with comments like this one from Deon Anthony: “Honest, straight forward and telling it like it is. This is the best policy for any owner.” Onamission Syndication prides itself on transparency with it’s owners and everyone is happy about the decision to retire Saint.